onto a path of fiscal sanity and regulatory restraint that will help sustain the greatness of America,” Watts said. “The Southern Republican Leadership Conference is an important opportunity for us to shape the vision and articulate the ideas for our party and our country that will lead us to victory in 2010, 2012 and beyond.”

J.C. Watts served as a Congressman from Oklahoma’s Fourth Congressional District for four terms. After, Watts was appointed by President Bush to the Board of Visitors for the U.S. Military Academy. He later created a lobbying and consulting firm, J.C. Watts Companies, located in Washington, D.C. where he fights for the causes he championed in Congress. He wrote an autobiography, worked as a columnist for several publications, became a member of the board of directors for several corporations and served as the

Congressman Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He is known among both his colleagues in Congress and his constituents for his consistent voting record in the House of Representatives: Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Dr. Paul is the “one exception to the Gang of 535″ on Capitol Hill.

Ron Paul was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, before proudly serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s. He and his wife Carol moved to Texas in 1968, where he began his medical practice in Brazoria County. As a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology, Dr. Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies! He and Carol, who reside in Lake Jackson, Texas, are the proud parents of five children and have seventeen grandchildren.

While serving in Congress during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dr. Paul’s limited-government ideals were not popular in Washington. He served on the House Banking committee, where he was a strong advocate for sound monetary policy and an outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve’s inflationary measures. He also was a key member of the Gold Commission, advocating a return to a gold standard for our currency. He was an unwavering advocate of pro-life and pro-family values. Dr. Paul consistently voted to lower or abolish federal taxes, spending, and regulation, and used his House seat to actively promote the return of government to its proper constitutional levels. In 1984, he voluntarily relinquished his House seat and returned to his medical practice.

Dr. Paul returned to Congress in 1997 to represent the 14th Congressional district of Texas. He serves on the House Financial Services Committee, the International Relations committee, and the Joint Economic Committee. On the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Paul serves as the vice-chairman of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee. He continues to advocate a dramatic reduction in the size of the federal government and a return to constitutional principles.

Dr. Paul is the author of several books, including Challenge to Liberty; The Case for Gold; and A Republic, If You Can Keep It. He has been a distinguished counselor to the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and is widely quoted by scholars and writers in the fields of monetary policy, banking, and political economy. He has received many awards and honors during his career in Congress, from organizations such as the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, the Council for a Competitive Economy, Young Americans for Freedom, and countless others.

Dr. Paul’s consistent voting record prompted one Congressman to comment that “Ron Paul personifies the Founding Fathers’ ideal of the citizen-statesman. He makes it clear that his principles will never be compromised, and they never are.” Another Congresswoman added that “There are few people in public life who, through thick and thin, rain or shine, stick to their principles. Ron Paul is one of those few.”

Michael S. Steele was elected Chairman of the Republican National Committee on January 30, 2009. As Chairman Mr. Steele is setting a new direction for the Republican Party – actively engaging Americans in their local communities and empowering state and local Republican organizations to do the same.

A self-described “Lincoln Republican,” Mr. Steele earned a place in history in 2003 when he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, becoming the first African-American elected to statewide office in the state.

An expert on political strategy and election reform, he most recently served as Chairman of GOPAC, and also held posts on the National Federal Election Reform Commission and the NAACP Blue Ribbon Commission on Election Reform.

Mr. Steele’s experiences as a successful elected conservative African-American Republican and his engaging speaking style have launched him into national prominence. His first major exposure was during an appearance at the 2004 Republican National Convention. Since then, President George W. Bush selected Steele to be part of the U.S. delegation to the investiture of Pope Benedict XVI, and a member of the Presidential Delegation to the Leon H. Sullivan Summit VIII in Tanzania.

Mr. Steele’s ability as a communicator and political analyst have been showcased through his roles as a contributor on the Fox News Channel and regular host of the Salem Radio Network’s nationally syndicated Morning in America Show. Additionally, Mr. Steele is an entertaining and eloquent guest on cable political talk shows such as HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report.

A corporate finance attorney, Mr. Steele founded his own company, The Steele Group, a business and legal consulting firm. His writings on law, business and politics have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Politico.com, Townhall.com, and The Journal of International Security Affairs, among others.

Born in 1958 at Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Mr. Steele was raised in Washington, DC. He spent three years as a seminarian in the Order of St. Augustine in preparation for the priesthood, but, ultimately, chose a career in law instead. He earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1991.

Mr. Steele serves on the Administrative Board of the Maryland Catholic Conference and is a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Landover Hills, MD, where he attends mass regularly with his wife Andrea and their two sons.

Mr. Santorum served as United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995.

He founded the Congressional Working Group on Religious Freedom and spearheaded the passage of several key pieces of legislation. From 2001 to 2007, he served as Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, where he directed the communications operations of Senate Republicans and was the third-ranking member of the Republican leadership.

Rick Santorum is currently a Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, established and directs EPPC’s Program to Protect America’s Freedom. He is writing a book on the “gathering storm” of the 21st century — the challenges posed by radical Islamic fascism and its growing alliances around the world. In 2005, he authored “It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good.”

Mike Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana, graduated from Hanover College in 1981 and earned his J.D. from Indiana University School of Law in 1986.

Following graduation from law school, Pence ran for Congress in 1988 and 1990. In 1991, he was named president of a conservative state think tank based in Fort Wayne, Indiana known as the Indiana Policy Review Foundation.

Pence began his career in radio broadcasting in 1992 and two years later, Network Indiana syndicated his show throughout the state of Indiana. “The Mike Pence Show” aired Monday through Friday on 18 stations. He also hosted a Sunday morning political television show in Indianapolis from 1995-1999.

Pence was first elected to Congress in 2000 and was most recently elected to a fifth term in November of 2008. He also was elected unanimously by House Republicans to serve as House Republican Conference Chairman in November 2008. In his role as Conference Chairman, he helps to develop and disseminate the message of the Republican Conference and to promote its Members.

Congressman Pence describes himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.”

Congressman Pence and his wife Karen have three children and reside in Columbus, Indiana. The Pence family lives in Arlington, Virginia, while Congress is in session.

Conservative Leader

During the 109th Congress, Congressman Pence served as Chairman of the House Republican Study Committee. The Republican Study Committee is the largest caucus in the House of Representatives; membership grew to 110 House Republicans under his leadership, and has been the leading voice for advancing conservative social and economic issues in Congress since the mid-1980s.

Congressman Pence has emerged as a national spokesman for conservative principles. In March of 2005, The Washington Post described Pence as “A New Face on Conservatism” observing, “he delivered conservative opinions with the even tones and polite demeanor of his Midwest upbringing.” In November 2005, Business Week described Pence as a “new power broker” and syndicated columnist George Will singled out Pence and Governor Mitch Daniels’ brand of conservatism as the “wave of the future.” Peggy Noonan has complimented Pence on his ability to maintain an upbeat attitude even in a partisan environment, quoting him as saying “I’m a conservative, but I’m not in a bad mood about it.” An April 2006 profile in U.S. News and World Report said Pence “has emerged as a powerful force, moving Congress further to the right.”

Pence’s role as a conservative leader has been profiled in The Chicago Tribune, Business Week, the Weekly Standard, U.S. News and World Report and The New York Times. He appears regularly on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Pence also appears weekly on Indiana’s most prominent talk radio stations.

Gary Johnson is a Republican and serves as the Honorary Chairman of the Our America Initiative. He has been an outspoken advocate for efficient government, lower taxes, winning the war on drug abuse, protection of civil liberties, revitalization of the economy and promoting entrepreneurship and privatization.

He was born January 1, 1953 and attended the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque from 1971 to 1975, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. While in college, Gary Johnson earned money as a door-to-door handyman. His successes in this area led to his own construction business, Big J Enterprises, which was founded in 1976. Johnson grew the company into a multi-million dollar corporation that employed over 1000 people in 1994. When he sold Big J in 1999, no employee lost his job and the company remains very successful to this day.

In 1994, Johnson was elected Governor of New Mexico despite having little political experience at the . He defeated the incumbent Democratic Governor Bruce King in the general election by 50% to 40% as well as a former Republican Governor in the Republican primary election. In 1998, Johnson was re-elected as governor, defeating Democratic Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez by a 55% to 45% margin.

Results. As Governor of New Mexico, Johnson was known for his common-sense business approach to governing. He eliminated New Mexico’s budget deficit, cut the rate of growth in state government in half and privatized half of the state prisons.

Johnson also shifted state Medicaid to managed care (which led to better healthcare by creating a statewide healthcare network that previously did not exist and which saved money) and reduced state employees by over 1000, with no firings. During his term, New Mexico experienced the longest period without a tax increase in the state’s history.

While in office, Governor Johnson vetoed 750 bills (which was more than all the vetoes of the other 49 Governors in the country at the time.)

By New Mexico State Constitution, Gary Johnson could not run for a third consecutive term as governor. He currently lives in New Mexico and has remained very active, competing in numerous athletic competitions. He is an avid skier, adventurer, and bicyclist who abstains from alcohol. In 2003, he climbed Mount Everest. Johnson was raised Lutheran and throughout his life has ordered his life according to spiritual principles. Gary Johnson has two grown children.

Tim Pawlenty is regarded as one of the nation’s most innovative, energetic, reform-minded and accomplished governors. Now serving his second term as the 39th governor of Minnesota, Governor Pawlenty has brought increased accountability to state government, held the line on taxes, improved K-12 education standards and made Minnesota a leader in energy reform.

As Governor, he has balanced Minnesota’s budget three times without raising taxes, despite facing record budget deficits. Governor Pawlenty’s most notable accomplishments include proposing and signing into law significant new benefits for veterans and members of the military; enacting a property tax cap, eliminating the marriage penalty and cutting taxes; toughening the state’s education standards; reforming the way teachers are paid through a nation-leading performance pay plan; instituting free-market health care reforms that increase accountability and provide tax credits to encourage the use of health savings accounts; and implementing a plan to Americanize our energy sources by generating 25% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

Under Governor Pawlenty’s leadership, Minnesota leads the nation in a variety of measures. Minnesota ranks first among states in Fortune 500 companies per capita, first in overall quality of life, first in homeownership, first in percentage of residents with a high school diploma, and first in residents over 25 with a bachelors degree. Minnesota has the highest average ACT scores in the nation and is among the “Healthiest States in America.”

A fifth-generation Texan, Governor Rick Perry has taken an extraordinary Texas journey, from a tenant farm in the rolling West Texas plains to the governor’s office of our nation’s second largest state.

Texas’ 47th governor, and the first Texas A&M graduate to occupy the Governor’s Mansion, Rick Perry has led a life of public service, starting in the United States Air Force and continuing over two decades in elected office.

Governor Perry’s administration has focused on creating a Texas of unlimited opportunity and prosperity by improving education, securing the border and increasing economic development through classical conservative values. Under Governor Perry’s leadership, lawmakers recently passed a $153 billion budget, financing:

a $3 billion cancer research fund

a health opportunity pool that will help more Texans buy private health insurance

more college financial aid

a new incentive program for colleges and junior colleges

$100 million to border security

Additionally, Governor Perry signed a school finance reform package that provides a 33 percent school property tax reduction, $2,000 pay raise for teachers, record funding for classrooms and a reformed business tax.

Raised in Georgia, Cain adopted the lessons of his parents – dedication to hard work and the importance of faith – and carried them with him to the pinnacle of the corporate world. Cain earned a degree in mathematics from Morehouse College in 1967 and later earned a master’s degree in computer science from Purdue University, while working as a mathematician for the Department of the Navy. He then worked as a business analyst for The Coca-Cola Company. In 1968, he married his wife, Gloria and they have two grown children.

In 1977, Herman Cain joined The Pillsbury Company and within three years, at the age of 34, rose to the position of Vice President of Corporate Systems and Services. Cain, reflecting his father’s drive to seek greater challenges, then set his sights on a corporate presidency.

With this goal ahead of him and his mother’s faith to support him, Cain resigned his senior position and started on another career path – the restaurant industry. He started from the ground up by making hamburgers at Pillsbury’s Burger King division. Nine months later, he was managing 400 Burger King units in the Philadelphia region, the country’s poorest performer. Within three years, his region had earned the reputation for excellence and was the company’s best.

In 1986, Pillsbury appointed Cain to the presidency of the then financially troubled Godfather’s Pizza, Inc. chain headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. In 14 short months, under Cain’s leadership, the chain regained profitability. In 1988, he led his executive team in a buyout of the company from Pillsbury.

Cain was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Restaurant Association in 1988. In 1994 to 1995, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors. While leading this association, he developed the organization into a pro-business voice via national debates and speeches concerning health care reform, employment policies, and taxation. Following this experience, he was appointed to serve on the Economic Growth and Tax Reform Commission in addition to serving as Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He then became a senior advisor to the 1996 Dole/Kemp campaign for the Presidency.

Herman Cain continued the responsibilities of President and Chairman of Godfather’s Pizza, Incorporated, while beginning a second career delivering national keynote speeches. Using his messages as the foundation, he created his own leadership consulting company, The THE New Voice, Inc. THE New Voice packages his speaking and develops his products, including books, DVDs, CDs of gospel music, and promotes his keynote speeches. He has authored four books to date on topics ranging from leadership to self-empowerment including Leadership is Common Sense and CEO of Self.

In 1996, Cain became CEO and President of the National Restaurant Association. He had been a member of the NRA Board since 1988, and had served as its elected volunteer chairman in 1994/1995. Cain thus became the only volunteer chairman to become the full-time CEO and President of the Association while still a member of the Board. Cain headed the NRA in this position for two and a half years.

In 1999, Cain sought to leverage his restaurant experience with the technology market and he became CEO and President of RetailDNA. Its mission is to provide innovative marketing solutions to the retail sector.

Today, Herman is a radio talk show host on “The Herman Cain Show” out of Atlanta’s WSB 750am and is a FOX News Business Commentator. Cain remains President and CEO of THE New Voice, Inc. and serves on the Boards of Directors for AGCO Corporation, Hallmark Cards Incorporated and Whirlpool Corporation. In 2004, he ran as a candidate for the United States Senate from Georgia.

Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council, the largest conservative family advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. Prior to taking the helm of FRC, he served two terms in the legislature where he was dubbed a “legislative pioneer” by the national media for crafting and passing innovative legislation. Perkins is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, a former police officer and a television reporter, bringing a unique blend of experience and leadership to the pro-family movement and acting as a spokesperson on these issues in national broadcast and print media.

Sarah Palin made history on Dec. 4, 2006, when she took office as the first female and the youngest governor in Alaska history at 42 years of age. During the 2008 presidential campaign, she became the first Alaskan and the first woman to be nominated for vice president by the Republican Party.

During her time in office, her top priorities were resource development, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development.

Under her leadership, Alaska invested more than $5 billion in state savings, increased education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program that provides support for low-income older Alaskans. She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to provide oversight and maintenance of oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska. She also established the Rural Subcabinet to create stronger, safer and healthier communities in the state’s outlying regions.

Governor Palin’s other accomplishments include the passage of community revenue sharing, an omnibus crime package, aviation safety, the reduction of business license fees, and an overhaul of the state’s ethics laws. She took steps to address Alaskans’ emergency energy needs by establishing a renewable energy fund, making rebates available for home weatherization and increasing the availability of bulk fuel loans to small communities and utilities.

Now in his sixth year as Governor, Haley Barbour has put Mississippi on a new path in job creation, education, health care, energy, safer communities and stronger families.

The results are significant: balanced budgets without any tax increases; a 27.8% increase in per capita personal income; prudent management of the state health care program; and new attention on Mississippi as an energy producing state that can help meet America’s energy needs in the future.

Governor Barbour’s first election in 2003 marked the largest voter turnout in Mississippi gubernatorial history, and he was reelected in 2007 with 58.2 percent of the vote. The Yazoo City, Mississippi, native is only the second governor since Reconstruction to be elected to a second consecutive term as Mississippi’s chief executive.

Achievements in his first term included:

Balancing the budget without raising taxes. Inheriting a budget hole of more than $720 million, Governor Barbour led by restraining spending, controlling debt and getting the state’s fiscal house in order. His policies not only filled the budget hole but also resulted in increasing Mississippi’s rainy day fund.

Newt Gingrich is well-known as the architect of the “Contract with America” that led the Republican Party to victory in 1994 by capturing the majority in the U.S. House for the first time in forty years. After he was elected Speaker, he disrupted the status quo by moving power out of Washington and back to the American people. Under his leadership, Congress passed welfare reform, passed the first balanced budget in a generation, and passed the first tax cut in sixteen years. In addition, the Congress restored funding to strengthen our defense and intelligence capabilities, an action later lauded by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission.

In his post-Speaker role, Newt has become one of the most highly sought-after public speakers, accepting invitations to speak before some of the most prestigious organizations in the world. Because of his own unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Newt is able to share unique and unparalleled insights on a wide range of topics. His audiences find him to be not only an educational but also an inspirational speaker.

Sean Hannity joined the FOX News Channel (FNC) in September 1996. He currently hosts his self titled program, “Hannity” (Monday-Friday, 9-10 p.m. ET). He is one of the most prominent and influential conservative voices in the country and his program offers a mix of news, commentary, interviews and branded segments such as the Great American Panel — made up of three nightly in-studio guests from across the political spectrum to discuss the issues of the day. Since Hannity debuted on January 12, has averaged 2.8 million viewers each night (frequently doubling the viewer total for his cable news competition), making it the second-highest rated program in all of cable news behind FOX News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor.”

Previously, Hannity co-hosted “Hannity & Colmes” with Alan Colmes for 12 years, which was the second-highest rated program in cable news.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is the host of the number one rated weekend hit “HUCKABEE” on the Fox News Channel, and is heard three times daily across the nation on the “Huckabee Report” on the ABC Radio Network, the fast growing new program on the ABC Radio Network.

He is the author of 6 books, the most recent being “Do the Right Thing,” which spent its first 7 weeks of release in the top ten of the New York Times Bestseller list.

After his quest for the Republican nomination for President in 2008, in which he finished second to John McCain, he formed HuckPac to assist Republicans running for office nationwide and has amassed a volunteer army of thousands of activists in all 50 states.